New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-08-21
HOW GOOD JURIES ARE MADE
. A COMPARATIVELY SMALL ELIGIBLE LIST.


A COMPARATIVELY SMALL ELIGIBLE Lioi'
,,r peone arc aware Of the large number Of Jurors
ro.ri,cI IN servo I'm the various courts In tins cry
dnrinp the calendar year and tho comparatively snah
numbor OF persons from whom they can DO drawn
Tho recent trial Of Jacob sharp has drawn aueh'oh
tLis mct During the three weeks wh'ch "oIc co"
,umed In procuring u jury moro IMAM i'ioo 'ai'
wore drawn from the box. Most OF thcse "had an
,o,smon" aud were therefore disqualified In III
ordinary civil case the objection would not apply
Tho calendar wear begins on october and ends on
ruI Durnr these nine months there are fourteen Tg
uar rarts of courts running, aud sometimes Iour a"r
tlona For each OF these parts at the beginning VI ca'n
month q panel Of 100 jurors Is drawn an" IN cN''A
nau.I Of the sam, number, This would rcqurv
400 men for the regular parts and 800 ior inc extra
WARTS In addition 10 these there are two paheh LOT
tbc herir,s Jury and jnrios for tho civil district
eouita There arc between 5000 AMI 1000 Jurors
drawn during tho year This does rot seem largo
number out Of population Of about lGOoOoo Actual
practice shows that the number OF pcr-cnN who arc
liable TO d. jury duty g. surprisingly small Enor1N
hayo been made 10 extend tho number OF persons
who arc liable. and there II an improvement over
,or,n,r vcars Commissioner OF Jurors Reilly believes
that he adj many more 10 INC lists whch NJ mas
moro thoroughly systcmatiLoi his llsts'
A rcrson Halle to 10 jury duty must DO over
must bo a citizen be abe b. read and write ana
ro.sess real or personal property valued at $50 or
NOE The following are exempt Aliens tpcr-ohS
NOT citizens o, the United Statcl, exempt hIcmeh'
,iniiitiamcn election officers, jury non-Tsldehu-'
LAWYER. minister's physicians public officials seamcn'
,tlot. or engineers surgeon d-ntlsis professor
druggisa and teachsrs In pubic schools and colleges
telc,cphic operators, persons under twenty-onc or
over seventy persons physically aao mch'-lly unfit or
Incapable
No person wants 10 n iury. To business
mon il g. especially irksoms ami 20 tho Glasses OF VA,
community who mako the beat and mot Intelligent
jurymon arc tho~c seek 10 avoid Tic duty
considerable proportion Ct tho.e who wouh otherwise
,'e liable 1.-Two OFT Of town MANY VINO como to th"
ofice of tho Commissioner OF Jurors and claim eNemp
zion Family admit tint 90 eara9e )nrS duty "-
me ID the principal causes that ei them to go ont
Of town 70 live
Tho name, are procured from many diTerns
source Tho directory T. tho main source OF Intor
nation The occupation and location guido tho Com
missioner and hl, clerk. largely IA scnGins out these
notco to persons TO appear and shO" cause why they
should not 10 enrolled a. liable TO do jury duty.
waller a Ialorr. a coachman other person engaged
In mental occupation l. presumed to be exempt
undor the provisions OF the law, Gradually long
let has grown up Of persons who arc liable. and a
much L,nccr ust OF these who are exempt. Advance
sheets the directory arc obtained In each year by
the Commissioner 81 Jurors and olch page il carefully
scanned for names to add 10 the jury ios. Those
who aic known 10 Ice liable 10 servo have roll Ink
tnlrk rlaccd opposite their names Those who 1ro
exempt have a blue check against thor names, and
those 10 whom notices DO sent 10 appear aah
slow cause way they should not be placed ON the
abio list are planly checked with ordinary lead
pencil TO 60 through the directory in this manner
and carefully note each name, comparing tho liable
and e, sn,pt with the ,ts m the Office is not small
tlsk Thcco arc ether from which names
obtained Tho list Of members OF the stoch Produce
CUtton. Metal and other exchanges arc obtained aud
he Dc,z0ull aud real estate lists from tho Tax
Commissioners These are carefully porused aud whore
a uanie appear, whose owner may possibly DO liable
not bo placed upon the list Tart of THIS notice
Il a. iol.ows:
b.tw.sa % ans 8 osises, stswsr as TO ycar
wa must answer u person possible. No attention. paid
Brss ih, notice you give yonr full and
naIue Eusiness aud ra'ld"'Cs
p.e md So R'' PC 'o-' 1''''0l VI" save
,,e@ps goa mug eas AMI s'y. sya'nce OF such eI
CHARLES REILLY, commissioner Of Jurors.
Penalty ior neglecns to answer t-:, $50 aud ctsIs.
Tho eI cuscs. Outside OF those provided by law for
c2cmptipg tho cnizen, are legion considerable
proportion bring with them physicians nihcato.
that their health Is such that they cannot serve at
that time. That IL accepted a. temporary respite,
The applicant Is excused and marked on the Office
rccors Ia receive another notice possibly SIX months
from that date. or II he Is apparently In very delicate
health year lacr 4 young man may como and
.ay he l. not Of ago. lie may be six months or ono
year from that time The same way with property
qualification. nan may not DO worth $50 ms
year but 10 may be noxt year. No one Is placed on
tho exsmpt roll uries- ne clearly within tho
u-t Of lawful exemptions given ubove.
Gao DC utilized 10 procure additional names. There
ono ''rsns S Ssisf'S" a to ibis Tho S:
twenty fur Assembly District In this city. aud there
win probably be aided this year by tho Police
Commissioners under tho provIs Ions Of the law which
requires that all election districts casting more than
900 votes shall DO divided. To make this large mas!
Of names available It will DO necessary that they shall
be arranged In alphabetical order and the occupation
Of tho voter given. Commissioner Reilly thinks of
skiing the Polco Commissioners to Issue order to
tho rrc,n inspectors adj to the list Of questions
nav put 10 the voter some additional ones, which
would aid him materially in preparing his jury lists.
one Is ihe occupation Of the voter Another wouh be
whether he Ia worth 500 or moro. As there IL no
properly qualification for in this State there
might be some difficulty in getting this Information.
Many voters would object to making oath regarding
PEELED 10 answer Unless the inspectors had power to
compel answer to all their questions good would
be accomplished In this direction Commissioner .
vtcr be obtained, and list Of the names alphabet
Last wear there were more than 10000 notices sent
out from the office o the Commissioner Of Jurors to
persenSto appeal and show cause why they should not
Known TO be liable and those who are known 10 be
exempt. great majority of those who received
under the law S0me were relieved temporarily. In
tao case OF ysrng men ar those who were not citizens
notices viii be sent again tails year. a. they may be-
oorue liable.
No person Is Dtely to be called on jury more than
drawn twfce In the year dating from January tO De-
cember 81. That Is he Ieay have been drawn To
serve IA January and again drawn IN the calendar
year In the succeeding months Of October, November
or December This seldom occurs however. Com
missioner Reilly says he is confident that, with the
system which he Is gradually lDtroduo-
ing and the care used IN procuring
new names, by next hs will have II so
arranged that no will be compelled TO
Jury more than once In two years. This, he SAYS,
win be So light tax on the TIN" Of business men that
will be loss ndccment for business u leave tho